


Twelve Days

by GWritesNovels



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Gen, Help, Homelessness, Small doses of Tyler and Jenna sprinkled throughout but mainly Tyler and Josie being friends
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-25
Updated: 2018-03-25
Packaged: 2019-04-08 03:49:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14096574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GWritesNovels/pseuds/GWritesNovels
Summary: "We've both been victims of pain. Everyone in this world has been, at one point or another. All in different ways. But what I want to learn, what I want you to learn, is the thing that not everyone figures out. I want us to learn hope, and what it means to live."In which a homeless girl meets a lonely boy and decides to teach him the meaning of living within the span of twelve days.





	Twelve Days

Blood covered the girl's hands, almost frozen to her skin. She didn't take notice, though. Just like she didn't notice when they cracked open and started bleeding in the first place. The only thing she could concentrate on was the fact that not all of it was her own.

     She never noticed when the snow around her started falling harder, covering her ragged, torn clothes and melting against her skin. She didn't notice it sticking to her worn boots, growing heavier and heavier with each step, almost as heavy as her heart. All she could think about was the fact that the older boy's skin felt the exact same way when she last touched it. The warmth that she had clung to every night as she shivered against the freezing floors of abandoned buildings or rested uncomfortably against concrete or park benches, the only warmth she knew, had finally faded away and left nothing but the cold in its wake. She shivered at the thought of the blood leaving him, her tears dripping onto the front of his shirt silently as she pulled him out into the open where someone could find him, for she had no way of burying him.

     He didn't deserve to die.

     Especially not the way that he did.

     The entire fight had been stupid, really. If he hadn't been having a bad day, hadn't been so stubborn, the both of them would probably be walking around, trying to find a place to sleep for the night because he absolutely despised the homeless shelter nearest to them. There were too many fights, too many people terrified out of their minds and too mistrustful of others for anything to be safe.

     The entire fight had been stupid, and it had started because of her.

     If only she had gritted her teeth and bore the freezing weather a little longer, if only she had come to her senses and realized that they were not the only two people hiding out in the abandoned mall, he would be alive.

     Her mind began to replay everything that had happened over and over again, just like a broken record. Bits and pieces, small flashes of memory suddenly hit her, an unstoppable force from which it was impossible for her to escape.

     Yelling, shoving, scuffling sounds coming from the corner. Fists connecting with flesh. The terrible sound of a knife being drawn. Rusty scent, heaving breath. Steel marrying skin. The first splatter of blood against the wall as his body fell---

     She shook her head, trying to push the thoughts away. Finally, she began to notice everything around her. Surrounded by trees, everything was silent. However, she noticed something beginning to take shape in the distance. Something large.

     A house, she realized as she got a little closer. Of course, it wasn't an uncommon sight. It only unnerved her because of the fact that there was literally nothing else around but a forest on that side. Who would willingly live so far away from everyone else?

     Maybe it was a trap. It might've been a safe house for some kind of criminal, someone who'd committed horrible crimes against humanity and was hiding away from everyone else. Or, even worse, it might've been a house where the victims' bodies were hidden.

     Should I risk it? she thought as she approached it. Or should I just turn and run while I still can?

    Nothing could be as bad as what happened earlier, though.

    As she kept walking closer and closer, she realized that the small house had an outside air ventilation system, which was blowing out hot air. Also not an uncommon sight, but a highly welcome one. She began moving towards it as quickly as she could, the cold still stopping her. When she tripped and fell, she crawled across the snow and up to the porch.

    Maybe no one was home. She could just sit there for a few minutes and take the time to warm up and feel more like a human being again. Then she could go, and the owner would never have to know she was ever there in the first place.

    The warm air brushed against her freezing skin, and she welcomed it, crawling even closer. Soon, she was sitting on the steps, thawing her arms and legs and face. She could stay there forever if she had the choice.

    Slowly, Josie White smiled a little as the heat traveled through her aching bones and into her freezing soul. She just hoped that it could finally be enough.

~ ~ ~

Tyler Joseph sat quietly looking down at his phone but not really seeing it. He tapped his fingers against the chair he was sitting in, but he couldn't hear a thing.

    Blurryface had come back today.

    Of course, he always made a return. Just when everything was going well, something had to go wrong. Just when he could finally feel alright, insecurity had to creep up on him and swallow him whole.

    Of course, Blurryface would choose to come back on the very first day of Tyler and Josh's break from tour, just after Tyler had made a promise to himself that he wouldn't disturb Josh and Paige during their time together unless it was absolutely necessary.

    The words blurred together on the screen, and he clutched the phone tightly. He couldn't do it. He couldn't talk to Josh and he couldn't talk to Paige because he'd just be a nuisance to both of them, he knew he would. They'd deny it, but he knew the truth. He couldn't call any of his family members because he knew they were going to be busy all that week. He definitely couldn't call Jenna. Tyler had just established a good friendship with his crush, and he couldn't tell her about all of the screwed-up things that went on in his head this soon.

    He was stuck with his own thoughts again, a cold, numbing sensation that he'd slowly grown used to as time passed by.

    Slowly, Tyler looked at the phone again, skimming over the notes that he'd written for a new song. What was the point of him even making music? There was already so much in the world, so many songs similar enough to his own that it didn't matter if he wrote or not. Somebody would come out with words close enough to the ones that were bouncing around in his own head, and people would like that more.

    There's no point to this, he thought to himself, slowly closing out of the document. There's absolutely no point at all. Sighing, Tyler ran a hand through his hair and tossed his phone onto the seat. He hated that he was letting all of the fans down. Maybe it was for the best, though. Maybe he just needed to fail, step into the background. Maybe someone else needed to succeed.

    He absolutely hated Blurryface. Blurryface made him question everything.

    Tyler rose to his feet and headed for the hall, knowing that a walk might help him clear his head a little more. He grabbed his beanie and a jacket from the coat rack in the hallway before putting them on. He also slipped on a random pair of shoes, then walked out the door.

    The sun was setting and the air was freezing, a lot colder than he'd expected. Snow covered the ground, which was a surprise to him. He began to shiver immediately and contemplated going back into the house. Right as he turned to the door, something that lurked in the corner of his eye caught his attention.

    He wasn't alone.

    Quickly, he whirled back around to get a good look at the person. The dim lighting made it difficult to see, but when he squinted, he was pretty sure that the individual in question was a young woman. Tyler began walking closer, hoping that she wasn't armed with any sort of weapon. As he approached her, he realized that she was hunched over the air duct, trying to warm up. Her dark brown hair was caked in mud and something else, and her clothes hung off of her body, definitely not her size. Her plaid shirt was worn and ripped in places, her jeans seemingly in the same condition.

    When he took the next step, he saw her visibly tense. "Please don't hurt me," came a small, soft voice. "I promise I was just leaving. I'm sorry." 

    "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you," Tyler said calmly, taking another tentative step and raising his hands in a surrender motion. "Are you alright?" Right as he asked the question, he saw her blood-slathered palms and got his answer.

    "Yeah, I just saw that heat was coming from here and wanted to warm up a little," she replied. Her voice sounded shaky, he noticed, almost as if she'd been crying. "I'll go now."

    "No, no, you're fine," Tyler said quickly, taking one last step and sitting down next to her. She flinched away slightly, so he scooted away from her as much as he could to give her some space. He caught a small glimpse of her face, which also had smears of blood and mud. 

    What happened? Had she been in an accident? Was there someone that she needed to call? Did someone do this to her?

    All of the questions circled around Tyler's head, but he couldn't make his mouth work right. Instead, he looked at the girl. She couldn't have been older than eighteen. Her brown, terrified eyes held such a mixture of innocence and experience that it worried him. Every time her eyes flickered down and got a glimpse of the blood, it looked like she wanted to burst into tears.

    A few more moments of silence passed, and Tyler finally found that he could speak again. "Would you like to come inside? It's a lot warmer." The girl looked at him warily, scanned over his features, and Tyler realized that she was probably attempting to judge whether or not he was planning on doing something terrible. Finally, she nodded slowly before standing up. She was quite tall, almost his height. He stood as well, walking in front of her and opening the door. The warm air was welcome, and he sighed happily as it washed over him. He turned, and he thought he saw a flicker of slight relief appear on the girl's features as she stepped into the warmth as well.

    "What's your name?" he asked as they walked into the living room together. He sat on the chair again, and she chose the furthest couch seat from him.

    "Josie," she answered quietly, looking down at the floor.

    "Nice to meet you, Josie. I'm Tyler," he said, and she nodded slightly. "Are you really alright? Did something happen? Do you need to call someone?" All of the questions spilled out at once, and he immediately shut up. The last thing he needed to do was scare her.

    "Not really," she admitted, still not looking up at him. "Something did happen, but there's nobody I can call." Devastation made its way into her tone, and Tyler wondered what went on. He didn't want to push her too far, though.

    "Is it anything that you want to talk about?"

    She shook her head. "I don't know if I can right now. It's still---I'm still working on wrapping my head around it."

    Tyler nodded in understanding, and they fell quiet for a moment. He looked over all the blood on Josie's hands and face, realizing that the girl probably felt miserable with the substances coating her skin. "Would you like to get cleaned up?" He hoped it didn't sound rude.

    "Only if you don't mind," she said quietly, sounding nervous and self-conscious.

    "Of course I don't," Tyler replied with a small smile. He stood once more and led the way to the bathroom, stopping on the way to retrieve some clothes for her to wear. "Sorry," he apologized sheepishly, "I don't have anything that'll fit right."

    "This is good, thank you." Josie took the clothes from him with a small nod of gratitude and began heading for the bathroom.

    "Towels are on the rack," he called out right as the door closed. Tyler stayed in place until he heard running water, then he began walking away.

    He went back into his bedroom and sat lightly on the bed, still wondering where she'd come from, what had happened to her.

    There had to be something that he could do to help.

    Blurryface made another appearance, asking one single question that would haunt Tyler for days to come.

    How are you supposed to help her when you can't even help yourself?

                                                                                         ~ ~ ~

Josie allowed the searing hot water to beat against her freezing skin, burning and stinging. The water ran down to the drain in red rivulets, and she closed her eyes. She allowed herself to feel the burn, soothing the craving of pain.

    She wished she could burn the memories away just as easily.

    Josie shook her head, forcing her thoughts to turn to Tyler. He seemed kind enough, and she hoped that there were no sinister intentions here. He seemed like he really cared.

    He seemed like he could've been good friends with Coleton.

    She scrubbed harder at her face and hands, trying to wash all of those thoughts away. Her brain wouldn't listen, though. Instead, questions began to fill her mind. Has anyone found him yet? Is he still lying on the snow outside of the abandoned mall, all of the blood draining out of him? Is he in the morgue now, a nineteen-year-old John Doe with no one coming for him?

    Josie finally ran her hands through her hair, washing out the matted mud and blood that she had acquired today. It felt good to have water splashing over all of the substances, finally removing them from her body.

    She located Tyler's shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. She knew that she should probably ask before using it, but it was too late now. Hopefully, he wouldn't mind.

    Finally, she stepped out of the warmth and cut the water off, drying herself before getting dressed. Tyler had been right; the black t-shirt and gym shorts absolutely devoured her frame.

    At least she was cleansed of the day.

    After a few more moments of looking into the mirror, she shook her head and walked out of the bathroom. There was no place inside of it to dump the wet towels and her ruined clothes, so she awkwardly stood outside of Tyler's bedroom door to ask him where she should put them. His door was shut, so she wondered if she should just leave him alone.

    All of  a sudden, she heard the soft sound of a piano and something that resembled a muffled sob, which made her feel even worse. Was he alright? Did she need to check on him, or would he throw her out for seeing him in such an emotional state? 

    Josie contemplated this for another moment, and then she heard Tyler say quietly, "There's no point in any of this, is there? Making music, doing something with my life. It's all just a waste."

    Upon hearing this, she bit her lip and contemplated what she should do. He was obviously upset, but she had no idea how to comfort him. She couldn't just ignore it, brush it aside, but she also didn't want to just burst in and demand to know what was wrong. She allowed a few more moments to pass, just enough time for him to slam his hand down on the keys randomly, which made her jump at the noise. Then she knocked on the door softly. "Come in," Tyler called, and if she hadn't heard him a few moments ago, she would've never known that anything was wrong.

    She turned the knob and entered the dark room. The only light was coming from the moon shining through the window. Tyler was sitting near it, small keyboard in front of him. There were small tear streaks running down his face, which made her heart ache. "I'm so sorry to interrupt you, but where do I need to put these?" she asked, holding up the dirty towels and clothes.

    "It's alright, you're fine," he said, standing and approaching her. "Here, I'll take them."

    "Thank you," she said with a small smile. He smiled back, though she could tell that it took effort.

    "The guest bedroom is down the hallway, if you'd like to stay," Tyler said kindly, making a small gesture towards the direction of the room.

    "Thank you again," she said. "It really means a lot to me." With that, she left him alone and headed into the guest room, wondering what to do.

    The room was very pretty, with light gray walls and a bed with matching gray sheets. There was a television and a desk with an open notebook that looked like it hadn't been touched save for placing a pen inside. The rest of the room was barren.

    Staring at the pen and paper, she had an idea, and she hoped that Tyler wouldn't mind.

    Coleton had always told her that she was good at comforting people with her words. Though they didn't seem that important or helpful to her, what could it hurt to try to help Tyler out?

    Slowly, she walked over to the desk. If she only had one chance to tell Tyler something, what would it be? After a moment, she had it. Josie picked up the pen and began to write.

    _We've both been victims of pain. Everyone in this world has been, at one point or another. All in different ways. But what I want to learn, what I want you to learn, is the thing that not everyone figures out. I want us to learn hope, and what it means to live._

    She put the pen down and read over her words, smiling a little. Hopefully this would help. In the back of her mind, she scoffed. How could she possibly help anyone? But she shoved the thought away and carefully tore the paper out of the journal. 

    Then she crept across the hallway and slipped the note under his door.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful day or evening! :)


End file.
